in regards to the poll at the top, this is for the next film we discuss. i felt for this list, i'd take a few from the AFI list linked above. Feel free to suggest more films for the next poll in the next movie thread.

for the first thread in the series, i've decided to go for the American Film Institute's top science fiction movie as noted in the recent 10 top 10 list
i thought this might also be a good pick since Arthur C Clarke passed this year.

With assistance from special-effects expert Douglas Trumbull, Kubrick spent over two years meticulously creating the most "realistic" depictions of outer space ever seen, greatly advancing cinematic technology for a story expressing grave doubts about technology itself. Despite some initial critical reservations that it was too long and too dull, 2001 became one of the most popular films of 1968, underlining the generation gap between young moviegoers who wanted to see something new and challenging and oldsters who "didn't get it."

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yeah, it's been some time since i've watched 2001 myself. i'm sure it's going to look spectacular on my new lcd tv

it's interesting to me that Kubrick directed this movie. it seems so sterile compared to many of his other films, though it is easily as visually stunning as the others. i guess what he really does is amplify, in his own way, the mood and palette of the story. 2001 is more vast, a clockwork orange is more visceral and violent, dr strangelove is more paranoid, and the shining is far more unnerving for being directed by Kubrick.

i'm really looking forward to watching this epic again - even those with no images.

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i still need to see that - well all of it anyway; i've seen bits and pieces.

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I don't think star wars - a new hope would have been as good without 2001 setting such a high bar for special effects

completely agreed. considering that most people attribute "star wars" with the real beginning of good sci-fi effects. sometimes you need to look back a little farther. it's kind of like attributing the beginning of punk music to the sex pistols.

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I still find some of the effects shots to be amazing. Take for instance the series of scenes detailing travel from the Earth to the Moon. The attention to detail is amazing. The random floating objects, the oblique shadows, and specifically the scene where the stewardess brings the food trays from one level to another within the landing ship, particularly the transfer between axis', awesome.

Oh and since I'm thinking about it, the zero gravity toilet instructions, brilliant!

Yay, the movie club has started! I think I tried to watch 2001 a couple of years ago and couldn't finish it. I like Kubrick and a couple of his movies (Lolita, FMJ, the Shinning). Maybe it's because I am too young to be completely appreciative of his work but some of his movies are slow and very difficult to sit though.